Thousands of US and Filipino troops, joined for the first time by a sizable contingent of Japanese forces, began annual military exercises on Monday against the backdrop of war in the Middle East.
The war games will feature live-fire exercises in the northern Philippines across the Taiwan Strait, as well as the disputed South China Sea province, where Philippine and Chinese forces have engaged in repeated confrontations.
In one exercise, the Japanese military, which is contributing about 1,400 personnel, will use a Type 88 cruise missile to sink a World War II-era minesweeper off the coast of northern Luzon island.
More than 17,000 soldiers, airmen and sailors are taking part in the 19-day Balikatan, or “Shoulder to Shoulder” exercise, almost the same number as last year’s edition, including contingents from Australia, New Zealand, France and Canada.
Balikatan comes as Iran and the United States, along with Israel, advance toward the end of a two-week ceasefire that stopped the war in the Middle East sparked by surprise US-Israeli strikes in the Islamic republic.
“Despite challenges everywhere in the world, the United States’ focus on the Indo-Pacific and our ironclad commitment to the Philippines remains unwavering,” said US Lt. Gen. Christian Wortman at Monday’s opening ceremony.
Without giving exact numbers, Wortman, the commander of the Marine Expeditionary Force, later told reporters that about 10,000 US personnel would take part in the exercise.
Philippine military chief General Romeo Brawner added that US Indo-Pacific Command chief Admiral Samuel Paparo had assured him at the outbreak of war that this year’s Balikatan would be “the biggest ever”.
Among the high-end weapons expected to be used is a US Typhon missile system that has been in the archipelago since US forces visited and left it there in 2024, provoking anger from Beijing.
“We anticipate him being involved at some level during the course of practice,” Wortman said.
‘Playing with fire’
While the two militaries insisted that no drills would take place “close to Taiwan,” the coastal defense drills have been held less than 200 kilometers (120 miles) from the island’s southern coast.
Beijing has increased military pressure around self-ruled Taiwan, which it considers part of its territory, and has threatened to use force to seize it.
China criticized the joint exercises on Monday, saying the United States, Japan and the Philippines were “playing with fire”.
“What the Asia-Pacific region needs most is peace and tranquility, and what it needs least is the introduction of external forces to sow division and confrontation,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told a news conference.
“We wish to remind the countries concerned that blindly tying them together in the name of security will be akin to playing with fire – ultimately against them,” he added.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos warned in November that given his country’s proximity to the island democracy, “a war over Taiwan will drag the Philippines, kicking and screaming, into the conflict.”
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In February, US, Japanese and Filipino aircraft patrolled the Bashi Channel that separates the Philippines from Taiwan to test what Manila called “their ability to operate seamlessly together in complex maritime environments.”
Japan’s first Balikatan as a full participant follows the signing of a mutual access agreement approved by the Japanese Diet last June.
Colonel Takeshi Higuchi of the Tokyo Joint Chiefs of Staff told Japanese media that the drills will “contribute to creating a security environment that does not tolerate any attempt to unilaterally change the status quo by force.”
Marcos has built security ties with Western countries to deter China. Over the past two years, Manila has also signed visiting forces or equivalent agreements with New Zealand, Canada and France to facilitate joint military exercises.
Outside the Manila base where Monday’s opening ceremony was held, a group of about 50 people protested the drills, holding up placards branding US President Donald Trump an “imperialist terrorist” and calling for US forces to leave the country.
